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Farm & Garden

Good Food Festival & Conference March 14-16

March 01 2013 - 11:00 AM

For the true foodie, Chicago Gourmet, Taste of Chicago and any of the other popular festivals you have to brave the crowds to attend always seem a bit daunting. It’s too much of a hassle and not enough about the food. This is where the Good Food Festival sets itself apart. The Festival, which takes place Thursday, March 14-16 at UIC Forum, includes chef demos and exhibitors, a trade show, food policy summit, school food summit, a food dinner party and more. It’s all local, and you can even buy different tickets depending on what you plan on attending.

While Chicago Foodies is a proud sponsor and participant in the seed swap, we’re also looking forward to a number of other highlights. There will be 150 farms and artisanal producers showing off their local and sustainable products, plus a Good Food Court featuring lunch and snacks from local eateries. We’d like to check out the demos from chefs Rick Bayless and Carrie Nahabedian of NAHA. If you’re into becoming more sustainable yourself, you can check out The Art of Fermentation, take a canning and pickling lesson with Paul Virant of Perennial Virant or listen to an expert speak on any number of Good Food topics.

The event of the weekend you can’t miss has to be Localicious, a dinner that Friday night featuring a ton of incredible local restaurants. The tickets aren’t cheap at about $75, but you’ll get a sampling of food and drinks from places like Ada Street, Floriole, New Holland Brewing, Province, Saigon Sisters, North Shore Distillery, Uncommon Ground, Yusho and many more. The evening even includes live bluegrass music.